Rematch in the Marionette Mansion
by Musicstarnc
Summary: Elite four Eva of the mini league attempts to do something she never could as a trainer. Beat the ghost master, Dorie, in her own gym. Can she survive in this mansion of horrors? And will she finally relieve herself of her fear for a certain gym leader? All OC's. Two-shot. REALLY bad summary.


**Okay, I started this a loooooong time ago and it's finally done! It's a two-shot so I'm not quite done yet. *tries not to cry* jk, I love writing. You'll probably notice a bit of a change in the way it's written by the middle-end part. Cuz again, I started this waaay long ago. This is for a league I made up and Eva is based of one of my friends. Plz check her out; RomeRainstar. I wanna do more of these with the other characters as most of the gym leaders and elite four are based on my friends. Most but not all. Dorie's original. Please enjoy and I'll see you at the bottom =D**

A young woman stood out front. She was about thirteen with straight, long brown hair and brown eyes. She wore glasses, and a dark brown sleeveless shirt with a lighter brown jacket. She wore knee-high black boots and jeans. And she looked absolutely terrified. Her face was pale, her knuckles white. She took one last, good look at her surroundings. The air was hot and muggy from the rain earlier, the sky dark with clouds. The grass of the lawn dripped with dew. Not a flicker of light from inside the mansion. It was a large mansion about three stories high, five if you count the attic and basement. The mansion was a purplish color. The lawn was neatly cut, the mansion looking as though someone had been taking care of it, but at the same time looking abandoned. The young woman walked down the pathway toward the front doors of the mansion. The doors swung open slowly, welcoming her inside.

Before stepping inside, she stared beyond the doors. The foyer was ablaze with candles, burning in hot, blue flames. She looked to the side of her, at the window. The window was still dark. She walked inside the mansion. The doors slammed behind her. The inside was the same purplish color as outside but brighter. There was a tall stairway which led to a smaller foyer and there were two hallways. One going left, the other going right. "Welcome" said a familiar voice. Chills went down the young lady's spine at the sound of her voice. She looked up to face her. "Your back again... it's been far too long, Eva" The woman who the voice belonged to had not been at the top of the stairs when Eva had walked through the doors. She greeted every guest. She had short midnight blue hair and long bangs brushed over one eye. Her eyes were a maroon color. She wore a black and white choker necklace and a black cloak with the hood down. She smiled warmly, though her eyes sent chills down her spine.

"I've come here to challenge you," Eva said in a shaky voice. The woman turned to the hallway facing left. She smiled. "Did you hear me? I said I've-" Eva started.

"I heard you, what did it read under my name on the sign out front? For that is your only clue to find my gym," and with that, she disappeared without making a sound.

Eva turned around and faced the front doors. Then she opened one and slid outside. It was starting to rain. A light drizzle, really. She walked around the yard and back toward the fence when something caught her eye. She strode towards a piece of the fence that was broken and slanting off. It was really starting to pour now but Eva just stared at the piece of the sign. It looked like someone had carved something on this piece of the fence. She tilted it horizontally, and screwed up her eyes. Now she could make out what it said. "Dorie - the mystery trainer" was written on the top half of the piece of the fence on the bottom it read "Sometimes what's real isn't something you can see" Thunder clapped behind her and she ran back inside the mansion. She had the clue to find the gym. How did that help her? Surely it's one of the doors inside the house. Eva went up the stairs and down the hallway on the left. This time there was another hallway heading left again and to the right a shorter hallway and a set of stairs. She went right and up the stairs. There was a balcony in front of her she looked out onto it. Before her she saw the grand ballroom. It was lit with candles both blue and orange. The light seemed to dance on the walls. Suddenly piano music began to play. Eva went down one of the stairs and into the ball room. She found the piano, but no one was playing it, the keys seemed to move by themselves. But it was such a beautiful tune. Eva found herself singing to it. Eventually, she realized that she was wasting time and left the ballroom by the hallway near the stairs she entered from. This was a longer hallway with a black and white checkerboard pattern on the floor. Eva walked along the hallway until the music from the ballroom faded away. _How long is this hallway anyway? _Eva thought to herself. Gradually the candles light seemed to get dimmer and dimmer as she walked along the hallway, until the flames went out altogether. "Luna, help me out" Eva cried and threw a red and white ball pressing the button in the center. Out came an Umbreon. "Use flash" Eva commanded. The yellow spots on Luna lit up brightly, illuminating the hallway.

Together they walked along the hallway. It wasn't long until Eva came into what appeared to be the dining room. There was a long elegant table with a dozen chairs on both sides and one chair at each of the ends. A crystal chandelier hung above the table casting eerie shadows and drenching everything in soft yellow candlelight. The table was set and had a white tablecloth draped over the dark mahogany table. Luna jumped onto one of the table chairs, its flash extinguished in the softly lit room. Eva stroked the Umbreon, grateful for the company it provided. The rest of the room was decorated elegantly. A deep purple rug with gold accents underlined the table. A wooden floor, the same shade as the table, went along and into another room, which was concealed behind a closed door. Thunder and lightning flashed outside the windows that lined the far side of the wall. The curtains pulled so you could see outside. The curtains were elegant. They had gold accents and were such a vivid shade of red they appeared to be drenched in blood. Eva was shaking, the blood drained from her face, the hair on the back of her neck stood up, and the constant reminder that there was a violent storm outside wasn't exactly helping. Luna rubbed against Eva's legs, in an attempt to calm her. She patted the Umbreon. She loved dark-type pokémon and ghost-types had never scared her in the past. But face facts: wouldn't you be at least a little terrified of being in a mansion by yourself during a thunderstorm?

Eva regained her composure and her and Luna proceeded into the room behind the door. It was a brightly lit kitchen that one might find in a five star restaurant. Eva avoided the part of the kitchen where the cutlery and silverware were kept knowing from past experiences that the ghost pokémon that lived in here had a fun time tacking her up against the wall with knives when she was ten years old. Luna seemed to remember this as well, since it had accompanied Eva here when it was still an Eevee. Having determined that there was nothing useful in the kitchen, considering that although starving all of the food was sinister, they wove their way back into the house and went down the other flight of stairs on the balcony overlooking the ballroom and the enchanting piano melody.

Eva stopped short in the middle of the hallway they entered. There was another dark purple rug with gold accents on the floor. Ball shaped lanterns went all the way down the corridor. There were doors lining the hallway. One of the door was slightly ajar, the light inside was still off. Eva hadn't gone down this hallway in her previous visit to the mansion. She looked for confirmation from Luna, who stared back at its trainer with the same questioning look. Silently they agreed to enter the room. The door made no sound as they opened it. Eva found a light switch and flicked it on. It was a relatively large room, but Eva still found herself in shock at its contents and appearance. A cream wallpaper with pink roses covered the wall on all sides. There was a large fluffy looking bed that looked as though no one had slept in it in years. It had a pink comforter and multiple pillows some shaped like hearts or stars. There was a white desk in one corner of the room. A closet that was built into the wall was opened on one of the two sliding doors. Inside there were dozens of dresses for a child. Small shoes were on the bottom. And on a top shelf were hats and dollhouses. On a large shelf were many stuffed animals. Eva picked up one of a creamy brown rabbit wearing a pink sundress decorated with flowers and adjusted the bonnet on its head.

"I don't understand" Eva said pondering why there would be a room for a child in a mansion who's only occupants were Dorie, the ghost pokémon, and the occasional trainer. But this was a room for a five-year-old girl at the most. Something caught Eva's eye. On a nightstand beside the bed was a picture of a little girl with long midnight blue hair, her eyes appeared to be closed from her large smile. She was missing one of her front teeth and was holding the rabbit stuffed animal Eva had picked up earlier. She wore an identical outfit and there were large hands placed on her shoulder. And sitting next to the little girl was a Snorunt.

Eva put the picture back down and looked around the room suddenly realizing who this room belonged to. This had been Dorie's room when she was only a child. Eva took another look around the room. There was nothing indicating how intimidating and scary Dorie was now, what could have changed between now and when she had been that sweet little girl in the picture? Perhaps she'd always been creepy and just looked adorable then. But Eva had no evidence. The girl in the picture looked like Dorie, sure, but she could have a daughter who was away or twin sibling.

Eva decided to leave the room immediately, she was sure to shut the door on her way out. She tried to open the doors to the other rooms to no avail. They were all locked from the inside and the only way she was getting in was with a key. She walked at high speed down the hallway and turned the corner to find a set of double doors. She opened them and gasped.

It was the largest library Eva had ever seen. There was row upon row of books and there were tables too. She stood on a balcony, both staircases on the sides led down and into the library. She wove her way through the library. Dorie must've owned every book ever written. Still she knew what she was here for. Like most of the rooms in the mansion the entire place was lit with candles, already ablaze and never faltering. There were windows which revealed the storm still raging outside. Eva made her way through the library checking for secret passageways, bookcases that opened to the gym, any ghost pokémon that might, at any moment, start pelting her with novels. Luna was also well aware that the pokémon that roamed freely in her gym loved, more than anything, scaring the trainers that came to challenge Dorie. For some reason, they all adored the mysterious trainer.

"Looking for something?" asked the voice of a young girl. Eva's heart nearly leapt out of her chest as a girl about seven-years-old walked out from behind the bookshelf Eva was studying. Something was off about the girl even if she seemed fairly nice. Eva turned to Luna in case it was pokémon. The girl looked small and frail with paper white skin and friendly blue eyes. She had chestnut brown hair tied back with a red ribbon in a side ponytail. Only the top half of her hair was up. She wore a tattered yellow dress and no shoes. Eva relaxed seeing that girl had no interest in harming her, if anything she looked sorry to have scared her. Eva sighed.

"You scared me," Eva confessed. The girl smiled.

"I wasn't trying to, honest," she replied. Then her eyes landed on Luna. "What a cute Umbreon" She said. She looked as though she wanted to pet her.

"You can pet her if you want to. I promise Luna won't bite" Eva reassured the girl. The girl seemed to be saddened by this. Luna tried to rub against her but instead, she went right through her!

The girl sighed. "That always happens. I wish I could pet you," she whispered to Luna. Eva was horrified. She was a ghost pokémon after all!

Eva took out her pokedex and tried to find out what pokémon had taken the shape of the little girl. But all the pokedex said was "Please focus on a pokémon."

Eva couldn't believe it. She wasn't a pokémon. "You, you're, you can't be a-" Eva couldn't find the words to finish any of those sentences.

"No, you're right. I'm dead," the girl said grimly, looking at Eva expectantly. "A ghost. Aren't you going to run away now?"

Eva shook her head, still eyeing the girl warily. That's what was wrong with her. Now that Eva looked closely at her she seemed to be transparent. Her feet weren't touching the floor just hovering close to it. The air around her turned frigid. "That would be wrong to do to such a nice little girl like you," was all Eva could think to say. She was amazed at how calm she sounded.

The girl looked shocked. Then happy. Very happy, bordering on eccentric. The girl laughed and the sound bounced all around the room. "You're really nice and very pretty. My name is Caitlyn. What's yours?" She asked.

"Eva."

"EEE- vah. That's a pretty name," She said. Yep, she definitely couldn't have been much older than seven.

"How old are you?" Eva inquired.

"Good question. I should be seventeen right now," The girl said. Her eyes fixed on some point on the bookcase behind Eva.

"Seventeen? But you only look about seven," Eva replied.

"That's also true. My appearance has been the same for ten years. I was only seven when I – well, died, I guess? I was just about to turn eight," She said turning to look at Eva, her haunting blue eyes somehow mesmerizing and beautiful.

"You've been dead for ten years?" Eva said. "But how? I mean you look pretty healthy and you're too young to have died of natural causes."

"I was murdered," she whispered as if the killer might hear her warning Eva.

"You – you didn't die _here,_ right?" Eva asked, more terrified than ever for her life.

"No. Don't worry you're safe," Caitlyn giggled, a hint of amusement in her voice and a smile playing on her lips. Eva didn't want to ask her any more questions about her death. She thought it would be cruel to ask a girl so young how she died even if the question was burning in her mind.

Caitlyn planned on accompanying Eva around the house. Eva had put Luna back in her poke ball and inspected the library with Caitlyn's help. The shelves were stocked with numerous titles, most of which she had to restrain herself from sitting down with, as a bookworm, she wanted nothing more than to sit and read them.

"This shelf!" Caitlyn called, motioning to a bookshelf that was hugging the wall. "I remember, Dorie opened this and it revealed a secret door. It has to be the gym!" Caitlyn looked proud of herself. Eva and Luna bounded over and peered at the bookshelf.

"Okay! Um, which book opens the door?" Eva asked. Caitlyn's face fell.

"That I don't know," she admitted sadly. Eva's face twinged with sympathy.

"That's alright. I'm sure I'll find it if I knock a few books off of the shelf," Eva said. She rolled up the sleeves of her jacket and gave her best game face. "Let's do this!"

A full hour later Eva had knocked all but three books off of the shelf and was standing atop a large pile, well, more of a nest really, with a hole in the center for her to stand in. She slid down on her butt. "It has to be one of these," Eva said on the verge of tears. She was sweaty, not from heat as Caitlyn kept the room comfortably chilled, but from hard labor.

"You are going to clean this up, right?" Caitlyn asked, raising one of her eyebrows.

"Of course," Eva replied. Though, she hadn't counted on not finding the correct book until the last few. With her luck, especially in this mansion, she should have counted on it anyway.

Eva pulled a large red book that just about shouted: _Hey, I'm what you're looking for_ so loudly she couldn't believe she hadn't selected it first as it should have been obvious. The book shelf jolted back and moved to reveal a secret door.

"Ha ha! How do you like that!" Eva bellowed triumphantly.

"We still have to clean up this mess..." Caitlyn reminded her. Oh yeah, easy for her to say as she can't clean; she'd go right through the books. Eva sighed.

Another half an hour passed as Eva put all of the books back on the shelf. Caitlyn offered advice but most of it was useless. Once it was clean Eva gave a triumphant laugh, though more subdued as she was tired.

The duo went carefully through the door. It was dark with only the occasional candle for light. The candles increased, but Eva's energy decreased considerably. Even Caitlyn's ghostly light flickered.

"Something's not right in here..." Caitlyn mused, Eva had to agree. She was so tired at this point she almost dropped. Then something caught her attention.

_"Lit!" _

"Wha... D-d-di-did you h-hear tha-at?" Eva asked, shaking.

"I did," Caitlyn sounded scared. The two scurried farther down the passage as quick as can be. Finally they came upon a room with a dusty, ancient-looking rug and a desk in one corner. There was another bookshelf, the books were caked in dust. So much so that Eva couldn't read the spines and was hesitant to touch them. There was a chandelier in the center of the room though something was definitely off about it.

"Hey, Eva, look at this," Caitlyn called.

She walked over to the desk where Caitlyn hovered. There was a piece of paper with a note scrawled on it in ink such a deep red it might have been blood.

_"Dear trainer," _Eva read aloud. _"I commend you for finding my secret study. But as you have no doubt figured, it is not the gym. No, this is only where I go to think things through when I don't want to be found. More of a cave of solitude, really. For coming this far I will give you a hint: the gym is near where my dear friend reflects your being. That is all, I sincerely hope it is helpful and I eagerly await your challenge. Now, my friends will escort you out. Good luck, young challenger. The mysterious gym trainer, Dorie." _

"Another riddle..." Caitlyn looked thoughtful but there was another part of that was worrying Eva.

"Dear friends..." Eva repeated, terrified. She didn't want to meet any friends of Dorie's, but no one seemed to be around.

_"Chan!"_

_"Litwick!" _

Voices called as a cascade of blue flames washed over the room. They didn't hurt but sure scared Eva and Caitlyn.

"AHHHHHH!" They screamed as a dozen Litwick and a Chandelure appeared in the room. The fire-ghost pokémon advanced toward them.

"LUNA SAVE US!' Eva screamed throwing her Umbreon's poke ball once again. In a flash of light Luna stood ready for battle. "Dark pulse, NOW!" Eva commanded. Luna's eyes glowed as an inky aura was expelled from her and into the attacking Chandelure and Litwick. Being partial ghost pokémon the attack was super effective. A few of the Litwick went down easily but Chandelure and the remaining were in it for a fight. Chandelure expelled hot blue flames and spun toward the Umbreon. The Litwick used will-o-wisp. Luna tried to evade but was hit by a few of the Litwick's attacks and received a burn. Momentarily immobilized by pain Chandelure attacked and sent Luna sailing beside her trainer.

"Luna, you okay?" Eva asked, concerned. She kneeled beside Luna and pulled at her bag and began fishing for something while Luna stood back up. "You can fight?" Eva looked up for a brief second.

_"Bre, umbreon!"_ Luna cried defiantly. Eva put back on her game face, refusing to let fear paralyze her any longer.

"Alright, then! Use crunch on Chandelure and avoid Litwick as best you can!" Eva called, standing up but as soon as she gave the command she went back to looking through her bag. Luna did as her trainer commanded as the opposing pokémon were firing attacks left and right.

"Found it!" Eva said triumphantly, pulling a burn heal from her bag. She peered at the battle and frowned distastefully. Luna was strong, no doubt about that, but there were just too many adversaries. She'd get tired sooner or later and then it'd all be over. Eva pulled another poke ball from her jacket.

"Sprayer, help Luna!" Eva threw the poke ball and a massive blue pokémon stood when the light faded. Yep, she'd gone and pulled out the big guns. Now her Feraligatr was out and this fight was pretty much over. "Use hydro pump!"

_"Gator..." _Sprayer muttered before water started building in his mouth. He shot a well-aimed spray of frothy, pressurized water at the Litwick and Chandelure. Successfully knocking them all out as well as soaking the room.

"Awesome guys!" Eva jumped for joy, still holding the burn heal. "Luna come here, let me fix that burn." Luna dutifully trotted over and Eva sprayed her with the medicine, her irritated fur going back and Luna, visually relaxing. Eva pulled a sitrus berry from her bag as well and handed it to Luna, who wolfed it down in two or three bites, carefully avoiding her trainer's fingers. Eva stroked the Umbreon. "You did a really good job, Luna, but you took a lot of damage. Please, take a rest," Eva held Luna's poke ball and she happily went back inside. Eva then turned to Sprayer.

"You were amazing Sprayer!" He hadn't taken any damage so Eva hugged the giant pokémon, easily a few feet taller than she.

"Maybe we should keep Sprayer out of his poke ball. I mean, he's strong and scary looking- but I mean that in the most respectful way possible," Caitlyn covered quickly when he gave her a look that suggested he would eat her... or more likely sit on her. "The other ghost pokémon won't bother us then."

"Good point," Eva added. "Okay Sprayer, you'll be walking with us!" She smiled. The corners of Sprayer's jaw twisted upward, a hint of a smile.

The trio walked with no further disruption in the house but it soon felt as though they had covered every inch of the mansion. Eva sighed.

"I don't get it. We should have found it by now..." She whined, Sprayer and Caitlyn nodding in agreement. They were at another dead end. This one had a few pictures and a mirror in the hall. The wall paper was striped different shades of purple and the mold near the floor had tiny ghost-pokémon engraved in it.

"What a cool mirror..." Caitlyn mused. It was indeed cool. The lining was shaped like a Snorunt holding a snowman-shaped mirror. Eva herself had one as a child, though hers was a Meowth.

"Oh yeah, I used to have one of these, but mine was a Meowth. Hm, I didn't know they made Snorunt ones," Eva nodded, glimpsing the mirror. Wait... something was off. Thankfully, nothing dangerous. The mirror displayed a door where there was clearly a solid wall.

"That's strange..." Caitlyn looked from the mirror to the wall, trying to make a connection that wasn't there. Or was it?

Eva moved her hand along the wall where the doorknob was on the wallpaper. Nothing... nothing... not- something. Eva clutched what felt like a doorknob. It was small, and could easily be concealed. She turned it, surprised when the wallpaper moved back and a door opened. Eva looked back at her companions who were waiting for her to go inside.

She pushed the door open and they walked into a room pitch dark. Eva could hardly see two feet in front of her. The cool rush of air currents and Sprayers loud footsteps behind her were the only things assuring her she wasn't alone in here. Still, she gripped the pocket where she held her poke balls.

Suddenly the room illuminated with floodlights blinding Eva, Sprayer, and Caitlyn. The room was full of ghost pokémon who fled to stands Eva hadn't seen before. When Eva's vision cleared she realized she was standing on a battlefield. On the opposite end stood Dorie who had dropped her cloak behind her and was wearing a white turtleneck, a pair of denim slacks and house slippers. Her midnight blue-colored hair was short-cropped and her maroon eyes gleamed ecstatic.

"Elite four Eva, as gym leader, I accept your challenge! Let the battle begin!"

**OMG this took forever but it's done! And I'm proud. I'll have the next - and final - part up as soon as possible. Which may be a long while as my computer hates me and I just wanted to finish this. Hope you enjoyed! Feel totally and completely free to leave a review! =D **


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